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Once a child gets hooked on reading, it’s hard to get them to put a book down. They won’t come to dinner. They stay up late. You can’t get them to watch TV or play video games. On road trips they stop asking “Are we almost there?” They smuggle books into the bathroom, creating long lines, impatient siblings and unfortunate accidents. The problems are endless.
One method that has had limited success in our household is to simply ground them from books when they sneak a read when they’re not supposed to. However, I’ve heard there are much more effective ways to stop kids from reading. High on the list is, if they ask you to read to them, refuse. Tell them you don’t have time. Put them off until you’re done watching your favorite TV show and hope they’ll get tired of waiting. Better yet, tell them books are dumb.
Other top ways to kill a child’s interest in reading is forbid trips to the library. Don’t let them choose what books they want to read. Only let them read books you like. Of course, that’s not a good idea if they like the books you like. So, better yet, force them to read only books that they hate. That will really convince them that books have nothing to offer.
If you’re lucky enough that none of your children have caught the reading bug, be sure to never let them catch you reading. That would be a catastrophe. They might get the idea that reading is fun, educational and even interesting. Then before you know it, they’re addicted to reading and the battle to get them to stop begins.
Let Your Children See You Reading
The way that children feel that others think about reading’s importance affects their own reading attitudes. If children rarely see their parents read, they gain the perception that reading is not too important. It develops an attitude of “Why should I read, you never do?” The opposite is true as well, the more children see their parents read the more important it becomes in their minds. This can be especially true for boys in father-son relationships. Whether it’s from cultural or social influences, research has shown that many boy “non-readers” view books as feminine or uncool. That same research shows that as boys see their fathers reading (or other significant male role models, such as grandfathers, uncles, brothers, and teachers), they more than likely will overcome this perception.
Regardless of whether you’re talking about boys or girls, the idea is that children need positive role models that will inspire them to read. When they constantly see you enjoying a variety of good books, it sends the message that “Reading is fun!” “Reading is cool!” “Reading is important!” “Reading is just what I need!”
Want your kids to be readers? First, be a reader yourself.
Easter can not get here soon enough. Of all the holiday-themed candy that is paraded in front of us all year, Easter’s is the most irresistible. I don’t know why chocolate tastes better when in the form of an egg or bunny, but IT DOES. Also, Easter is the only time we get Cadbury eggs, the slightly disgusting concept that is completely delicious and only appreciated by myself in this house (which is fine, because then I don’t have to share). It is actually a large miracle that I haven’t already ripped into those wrappers.
Yummmmmmmmm
To distract myself from the bag of chocolate sitting only a few feet from my desk, I’d like to remember one of my favorite Easter books, Bunny Trouble.
Bunny Trouble by Hans Wilhelm
Ralph, the story’s main character, is way less interested in Easter than me. He would rather play soccer all day then help out his bunny family and friends in preparation for the holiday. The egg-painting community gets pretty fed up with all his fancy footwork, so Ralph heads out into the wilderness, where he is captured by a farmer. Together with his sister, Ralph finds a way to escape and become more involved in the holiday.
As a child I loved this story, and loved seeing the illustrations of all the different painted egg designs, especially Ralph’s creative motif at the end. My favorite part was when the farmer’s children find Ralph in a cage surrounding by a rainbow of colored eggs– so pretty! I still have my copy of Bunny Trouble, with my name scrawled in my elementary school handwriting on the inside cover, and I’ve read it to Curly several times now.
Happy Easter!
Oh My Baby, Little One written by Kathi Applet and illustrated by Jane Dyer
One of my favorite books about love is Oh My Baby, Little One, which follows a momma and baby bird as they go through their day without each other, yet still in each other’s hearts. We see the momma go to work, while the little bird goes to school, and both have tiny hearts peeking out of their pockets to symbolize how love stays with you even in absence. I loved this book when my mom gave it to me before I left for college (a very emotional transition… for both of us!), and I love it now, reading it to my own daughter. My heart always swells as I read about the love between a momma and her baby, for I can think of nothing sweeter.
This weeks Essay in the NY Times Book Review struck a chord with me, in it the author talks about his youth when he would go to a yearly church book sale and stock up on cheap paperbacks to get him though the year.
This is exactly what I do every year with a local charity book sale sponsored by our local daily newspaper. Each year I go and pick up a bag full of books to help limp my reading habit though the year on budget, but there are always extras. This year I picked up the entire Foundation series to go along with a number of other gems that I have sitting in my to be read pile. Apparently I am not alone, the author also had many, many, extras. So many extras that he is still reading his selections thirty years on
As the author looks back at his youthful self I see my future self in his words, I foresee the day that I too will be forced to institute "the First Law of Literary Thermodynamics, otherwise known as the conservation of
libraries. No book can come into our household without another book leaving it."
I dread that day, I better get reading.
Once a child gets hooked on reading, it’s hard to get them to put a book down. They won’t come to dinner. They stay up late. You can’t get them to watch TV or play video games. On road trips they stop asking “Are we almost there?” They smuggle books into the bathroom, creating long lines, impatient siblings and unfortunate accidents. The problems are endless.
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This is wonderful! It's about time someone had the courage to stand up and be vocal about this horrendous problem.
Well, somebody had to speak up.
Aaaand... What you restrict and forbid is what kids reaaaally want.
So, parents whose children can read, but never do? Try forbidding reading for awhile. Buy some really interesting books and tell them that can't read them until they ________________________. Reverse psychology 101.